German president: Europe must carry 'balanced burden-sharing' in NATO
"We have heard the wake-up call," Steinmeier said.
Increases in defence spending by European countries so far have been necessary, including investment in the German Armed Forces, or Bundeswehr, Steinmeier said. But he added that those steps are no reason for complacency.
"More concretely: The growth must continue. Our Bundeswehr must become stronger - not to wage war, but to prevent war," said Steinmeier.
He advocated an increase in defence spending well above the previous NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP).
NATO allies agreed to the 2% target at a gathering in Wales in 2014, but it was created in "a different time, a different threat situation," Steinmeier said. More is now needed: "Any new German government will have to create the necessary financial leeway for this."
"We need balanced burden-sharing between Europe and the United States. NATO must stand on two equally strong legs so that it retains its value for both sides," said Steinmeier.
Addressing the US government, Steinmeier said: "We share the goal, so let's coordinate the way there. In any case, none of us can have an interest in weakening NATO's capabilities in the short term or even calling NATO into question in the long term."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
5 hours ago
- Boston Globe
An isolated Iran looks to BRICS for allies, testing a new world order
Behind the scenes, divisions over how harshly BRICS should condemn the strikes have tested the alliance's ambitions to rebalance global power dynamics by offering a counterweight to the West. Advertisement 'There is no alignment whatsoever on Iran,' said Oliver Stuenkel, an expert on BRICS and an associate professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian university. 'So the solution was this very inoffensive position.' BRICS was founded in 2009 with the goal of increasing the influence of the world's biggest emerging economies. The group has since grown to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Unlike NATO, where military cooperation is central, the group has focused on an economic and geopolitical agenda, though it has struggled to make significant strides on many of its concrete goals, serving so far as a mostly symbolic alliance. Advertisement Analysts expect Iran to use the upcoming summit as an opportunity to shore up more forceful support from the group, particularly in a communique expected to be issued at the end of the meeting. Iran has confirmed it will send a delegation to Brazil, though it is not yet clear who will represent the country or whether it will hold bilateral meetings with members such as Russia and China. 'The optics of being part of the BRICS is very important' for Iran right now, said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House. But within the group, diverging views on the recent attacks on Iran have highlighted the challenges posed by the alliance's rapid expansion, adding members with competing visions of the bloc's role on the global stage. 'It does make consensus more difficult to have more countries around the table,' Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr., an economist and former vice president of the BRICS development bank. China and Russia see BRICS as a way to challenge the United States' influence on geopolitics and decision-making, and have pushed the group to grow in size. Russia called the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites an 'unprovoked act of aggression,' while China urged 'restraint' and dialogue. Brazil, which is hosting the summit, condemned the attacks, while trying to avoid souring its relations with the United States, its second-biggest trading partner after China. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has resisted pressure from Russia and China to position BRICS as an anti-Western alliance, analysts said, instead casting the bloc as a way to give developing nations more say. Advertisement 'Brazil is not looking for trouble,' Stuenkel said. 'It is much closer to the United States than to Iran. It has no reason to buy into this fight.' India, another country with close ties to the United States, has also diverged on issues such as the Iran strike. South Africa and Ethiopia have been similarly cautious about alienating the West. This is not the first time that the group has experienced internal division in the face of conflict. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the alliance struggled to agree on a common stance, critiquing the West's imposition of sanctions on Moscow without addressing Russia's role in the war. President Vladimir Putin will not attend the gathering in Rio in person but will join virtually, Russia's state media reported. There is a warrant for his arrest related to the invasion of Ukraine that was issued by the International Criminal Court, to which Brazil is a signatory. In a first, China's leader, Xi Jinping, will also skip the summit, after meeting with Lula in Beijing in May and attending the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro last year. China's premier, Li Qiang, will travel to Brazil instead. Brazil holds the BRICS presidency, and Lula had hoped to cement his nation's image as a leader in pursuing an agenda focused on fairness in global governance and financial systems. But with the conflict involving Iran as a backdrop, analysts say the group will have a hard time forging a united front. 'I just hope we don't see the progress made last year being undone,' said Batista, the economist. Advertisement This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump has ‘good conversation' with Zelenskyy after heavy bombardment of Ukraine by Russia
Donald Trump spoke with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Friday as the US president appears increasingly disheartened over his chances of fulfilling a campaign pledge to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. The call with Zelenskyy comes as Washington has halted its latest shipment of military aid to Ukraine including Patriot air defense missiles and other crucial munitions meant to support the country's defenses, and hours after Russia launched a devastating air attack on Kyiv using a record number of drones and ballistic missiles. Zelenskyy called the conversation 'important and useful' and said in a post said that he and Trump had discussed Ukraine's air defense capabilities, joint defense production and 'mutual purchases and investments', all potentially avenues for Ukraine to restart aid from the United States by providing incentives for the Trump administration to rush crucial munitions to Kyiv. He said that the two sides had agreed to 'increase aerial protection', a particular focus for Kyiv as Russia has increased bombardments of Ukrainian cities despite outrage from Trump and other world leaders. Yet it was not immediately clear whether Zelenskyy had achieved any concrete progress with Trump and in his statement he did not mention the halt of aid shipments from the US or announce their resumption. Axios reported that a source described the call as a 'good conversation'. Related: Russian drone attack on Kyiv injures 14, triggers multiple fires, mayor says Trump said he was 'very disappointed' after a telephone call with Vladimir Putin on Thursday. A Putin aide told reporters that the Russian president was not willing to make concessions on what the Kremlin has called the 'root causes' of the war with Ukraine, a list of grievances that includes Nato expansion and Ukraine's desire to join western economic and security blocs. 'I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don't think he's there,' Trump told reporters after holding a rally in Iowa on Thursday evening. 'I don't think he's there, and I'm very disappointed. I'm just saying, I don't think he's looking to stop, and that's too bad.' The US has said that it halted the shipments, some of which were already in Poland, due to a review of US military stockpiles that suggested that the country is running low on munitions for its own troops. Germany has said that it is in 'intensive talks' to buy the Patriot missiles for Ukraine, although it's unclear whether those stocks would be available immediately. 'There are various ways to fill this Patriot gap,' a German government spokesperson told a news conference in Berlin on Friday. One option being considered was for the German government to buy the Patriot missile batteries in the United States and then send them to Ukraine. 'I can confirm that intensive discussions are indeed being held on this matter,' the spokesperson said. The shortage of Patriot missiles was further highlighted by the record bombardment of Ukraine in which Russia sent more than 550 drones and ballistic missiles at major cities in what Zelenskyy described as a 'deliberate act of terror'. The strike immediately followed the call between Putin and Trump, Zelenskyy said, and was a 'clear interpretation of how Moscow interprets diplomacy'.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Thousands in Zagreb for Croatian nationalist singer's 'record breaking' concert
ZAGREB (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of people flocked to Zagreb of Saturday to attend a show by controversial Croatian nationalist rock singer Marko Perkovic Thompson, which was being billed as the world's largest-ever paid concert. Police said more than 450,000 tickets had been sold for the concert at the Zagreb Hippodrome. Most of the streets in the Zagreb city centre were closed for traffic and some 6,523 policemen had been deployed. Thompson, who has had concerts banned in several European countries including the Netherlands, Switzerland and Bosnia, is accused by critics of flirting with the ideology and iconography of Croatia's Nazi-backed World War Two Ustashe government. The singer, who takes his nickname from the U.S. Thompson submachine gun and rose to popularity in the 1990s during and after the war that followed break-up of Yugoslavia, rejects accusations that his songs glorify the Nazi-backed state. Historians say the Ustashe systematically persecuted and murdered Jews, Serbs and Roma between 1941 and 1945. Thompson has previously said that his songs simply represent a love of God, family, homeland and people. His fans, many young and carrying or wearing Croatian flags, agreed. "I expect it to be good, great fun, lots of people and an unforgettable experience," said concert-goer Josip Gelenger.
